• Creek and Drainage Ditch Hunting

Small creeks and drainage systems are some of the most recognizable forms of inland shark tooth hunting around Summerville and the surrounding Lowcountry. Water gradually erodes the area's fossil-bearing sediments, freeing shark teeth and other fossils and carrying them downstream. Over time, some of that material becomes concentrated with gravel, phosphate, and other heavier debris along the creek bottom.

The challenge isn't necessarily finding a creek. It's learning which creeks have access to fossil-bearing sediments and recognizing where naturally exposed fossils are likely to collect.

• Where to Hunt

If you are new to shark tooth hunting in the Lowcountry, then you will quickly learn, if you haven't already, that hunters do not like to disclose their hot spots.  You will be hard pressed to find productive hunting locations anywhere online (even within the enthusiast Facebook groups). 
And understandably so - you give up a location publicly and suddenly it becomes overhunted, overcrowded, or even damaged by folks who haven't taken the time to understand how to respect the landscape. So in this section, we will not be disclosing location hotspots, but instead will be teaching you how to find your own! 

Step 1: Finding a creek
There are a few ways you could go about this. Maps and satellite imagery are a good starting point. Look for small waterways, natural drainage corridors, wooded low areas, and places where roads cross creeks. Bridges and culverts can reveal flowing water that isn't obvious on satellite imagery. Keep in mind that many small drainage ditches and seasonal creeks aren't clearly marked online, so eventually you'll need to investigate promising areas in person.

Geologic maps can narrow the search further. The Summerville and Charleston area contains marine formations deposited when this part of South Carolina was underwater. For example, the Ashley Formation consists partly of phosphatic marine sediments, while the younger Chandler Bridge Formation contains quartz-phosphate sands and is known for abundant marine vertebrate remains. These formations occur at or relatively near the surface in portions of the region. Now, a geologic map won't tell you where the shark teeth are. Instead, use it as another clue. A creek cutting through or draining an area containing fossil-bearing sediments may be more worthy of investigation than a randomly selected drainage ditch. Note that these are not the only two fossil bearing formations!

Step 2: Get out on foot and survey creeks
Remember, many creeks and small drainage ditches are not clearly marked online. Because of this, it is worth getting out on foot and putting eyes on areas you are targeting. You would be surprised by how many small creeks you might find in areas where maps only show forest and brush. Now, as mentioned, it is important to put eyes on the creeks you are prospecting, but what exactly are you supposed to be looking for when you get there? We will address this in the next section.

If you're looking for an easy place to begin, there are a few well-known public areas around Summerville where shark teeth and other fossils are regularly found. These locations receive plenty of hunting pressure, so expectations should be reasonable, but they can be excellent places for a new hunter to learn what to look for.  Large or exceptional finds are less common at heavily hunted public locations, but smaller shark teeth, ray plates, vertebrae, and other fossils can still be found.

• Sawmill Branch Creek - Public, with plenty of access points parallel to the Sawmill Branch trail. A popular spot being behind the Oakbrook YMCA in Summerville
• Doorchester Creek - Common access point at the west end of the big lots parking lot near KFC

• How to Recognize a Productive Area

Once you've found a creek, don't immediately start looking for shark teeth. First look at what the water is moving and concentrating. One of the best clues is naturally occurring gravel.

Look for rounded or weathered pebbles that appear to have been transported and tumbled by water. This is different from piles of sharp, angular rock that may have been introduced for roadbeds, drainage projects, or erosion control. Jagged granite, for example, isn't typical of the natural sediments around Summerville and may simply indicate imported construction material.

Other promising signs include:
• Dark phosphate pebbles or nodules
• Shell fragments
• Olive, brownish, or greenish silty sediment
• Visible transitions between different sediment layers (when examining the creek banks)
• Natural pockets of coarse material where the current slows or changes direction

However, don't write off a creek simply because its banks are covered with vegetation or the creek bottom is only sandy. The fossil-bearing material may be upstream or completely hidden beneath the creek bottom. If the surface appears sandy, use your hands to feel beneath the loose sand. Finding gravel underneath can be a good reason to investigate further.

Think of these features as clues, not requirements. You're looking for evidence that the waterway intersects fossil-bearing sediments and has enough flowing water to erode, transport, sort, and concentrate material.

• How to Search

Once you've identified a promising creek, the search becomes much more focused.

Start with material that has already been naturally exposed. Instead of searching every inch of the creek, look for places where that heavier material naturally accumulates. Pay particular attention to exposed gravel beds and naturally concentrated coarse material, especially around bends, shallow areas, and other places where changes in current allow heavier objects to settle. Slowly inspect the exposed surface for the recognizable shape or glossy enamel of a shark tooth.

If the creek bottom is sandy, and you've already determined that there is gravel material beneath the sand, then the next step would be to take up a few handfuls and load them into a colander to determine if the hidden material is characteristic of fossil bearing deposits.

This might take a bit of effort. You will be looking for things like weathered pebbles, hag stones, dark phosphate pebbles, shell fragments, other fossilized material like vertebrae or bone fragments.

If you are finding such material, it would be worth continuing to load a few more sifts because odds are, you will find a shark tooth in the mix as well. That of course is not a guarantee. However, the conditions suggest shark teeth may also be present.

After you load your colander or sifter, shake well in the water to remove sand and other debris. Dump the sifted material onto a flat surface and spread out evenly. Don't try to scan the whole thing at once or you might miss some teeth. Instead, scan slowly from left to right, working through the material gently with your hands.

Headlamps are very helpful for spotting small teeth within your sifted material, especially when the creek you're hunting in is heavily shaded by trees. The light from a headlamp helps differentiate the shine of wet rocks from the shine of tooth enamel. 

Once you find a fossil, slow down and search the immediate area carefully. The same processes that concentrated one tooth may have concentrated others nearby.
 
For someone completely new to inland hunting, a guided creek hunt can shorten the learning curve considerably. Seeing a productive creek firsthand makes it much easier to recognize natural gravel, phosphate, sediment changes, and the types of places where fossils tend to appear when you later explore on your own.

• What to Bring

Creek hunting doesn't require a huge amount of equipment.

A good basic setup includes:
• Water shoes or boots: Creek bottoms can be muddy, uneven, slippery, and covered with shells or other sharp material
• Nitrile-coated gloves: Protects your hands from glass or other sharp debris while handling searching creek bottoms
• Collection bag: keeps your finds secure
• Sifter/colander: Useful for sorting and searching creek bottom material. Must not be used to dig into creeks.
• Headlamp: Surprisingly useful in deeply shaded creeks where tree cover makes spotting dark fossils difficult.
• Bug Spray: Mosquitoes and other insects can be relentless around shaded Lowcountry waterways.
• Drinking water: Stay hydrated - especially in the warmer months!

For more information on what to carry, visit Top 6 Must-Haves for Creek Hunting article or the Gear Recs page.

• Construction Site Hunting Overview

Construction and land development can create excellent opportunities for finding shark teeth in the Lowcountry. Excavation for roads, neighborhoods, drainage ponds, utilities, and building foundations can expose fossil-bearing sediments that may otherwise sit several feet below the surface.

Where to Look
Freshly disturbed ground is usually the best place to focus. Look for areas where excavation has cut into the natural sediment rather than simply spreading imported fill dirt across the surface.

Pay particular attention to drainage ponds, retention basins, ditches, cut banks, and piles of excavated material. Sediments containing phosphate pebbles, shells, weathered stones/gravel, or other fossil fragments are especially worth inspecting. Once you begin finding pieces of bone, shells, or small shark teeth, slow down as the surrounding material may contain more.

How to Search
Visual scanning is usually the simplest and most effective method. Walk slowly across exposed sediment and look for that famous triangular shark tooth shape, partially exposed cutting edges, porous roots, etc. After rain can be an especially good time to search because runoff washes loose sediment from the surface and can make newly exposed fossils easier to spot.

Rather than wandering randomly across a large site, concentrate on areas where erosion or excavation has exposed a particular layer. If you find several fossils along the same band of sediment, follow that layer and search it carefully. Spoil piles are also worth checking, since material excavated from deeper fossil-bearing layers may have been deposited there. If there was recent rain, first start by looking in the run-off lanes of the spoil pile as these spaces often expose material.

Always get Permission
Construction sites and undeveloped lots are typically private property, even when there is no fence or "No Trespassing" sign. Always get permission before entering or collecting fossils.

For active developments, permission may need to come from the property owner, developer, builder, or site superintendent. Simply explain that you are a recreational fossil hunter and ask whether you may search the exposed ground. If permission is granted, follow any restrictions on where and when you can search. Keep in mind that some sites will not allow visitors because of safety or liability concerns. If the answer is no, respect it and move on.

• River Hunting Overview

River hunting in the Lowcountry looks very different depending on whether you plan to scuba dive or search from the surface. For divers, the Cooper River is the main attraction. For non-divers, the Ashley River and its surrounding tidal creeks generally offer more accessible opportunities 

For Divers: The Cooper River
For experienced fossil divers, the Cooper River is hard to beat. It is widely regarded as South Carolina's premier destination for fossil diving and is especially well known for producing large megalodon teeth, including exceptionally well-preserved specimens. Shark teeth and other fossils can become concentrated with gravel, phosphate, and other dense material along portions of the river bottom, creating productive areas for divers to search.

However, diving the Cooper River is not something to approach casually. It is considered blackwater diving, and visibility can range from poor to virtually nonexistent. Divers may also encounter strong currents, changing depths, boat traffic, submerged obstacles, and debris moving with the current. These conditions make experience, proper equipment, and familiarity with blackwater diving especially important.

If you are interested in diving the Cooper but are unfamiliar with the river, consider going with an experienced local fossil-diving guide or charter. Several operators in the Charleston area specialize in Cooper River fossil dives and can provide access to productive areas while helping divers navigate the river's challenging conditions.

For Non-Divers: The Ashley River
For non-divers, the Ashley River and its surrounding tidal creeks generally offer better opportunities than the Cooper. At low tide, exposed banks, creek margins, and fossil-bearing sediments can often be searched on foot or accessed by kayak, making these areas much more approachable for surface hunting.

Shark teeth, fossilized bone, shells, and other marine fossils can all be found in these environments. Megalodon teeth are possible as well, although large specimens are less commonly encountered than by divers searching productive areas of the Cooper River bottom.

The Cooper River, by comparison, offers relatively few accessible opportunities for productive bank hunting. For those who want to hunt the Lowcountry's rivers without scuba gear, the Ashley and its connected tidal creeks are generally the better place to focus.